Podcasts about Schlock Mercenary

In this week's episode, we take a look at how research can both help and hinder writers, and offer tips for effective research for fiction. This coupon code will get you 25% off DRAGONTIARNA: OMNIBUS ONE at my Payhip store: DRAGONOMNI25 The coupon code is valid through April 14th, 2025. So if you need a new book to read for spring, we've got you covered! 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 245 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is March 28th, 2025, and today we are looking at some of the challenges of research for writers. Before we get into that, we'll do Coupon of the Week, an update my current writing and audiobook projects, and then Question of the Week.   First up, Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the ebook of Dragontiarna: Omnibus One at my Payhip store, and that is DRAGONOMNI25. This coupon code will be valid through April the 14th, 2025. So if you need a new ebook to read for spring, we have got you covered.   Let's have an update on my current writing projects. I'm currently 70,000 words into Shield of Battle, which I believe will put me on chapter 16 of 24, so I'm about two thirds of the way through the rough draft. I'm still hoping to have it out towards the end of April, if all goes well. I am 7,000 words into Ghost in the Corruption, which will be the sequel to Ghost in the Assembly, and hopefully that will be out sometime after Shield of Battle.   In audiobook news, recording is underway for both Shield of Deception and Ghost in the Assembly. Brad Wills will be recording Shield of Deception and Hollis McCarthy will be recording Ghost in the Assembly. So I am looking forward to both those audiobooks and that's where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects.   00:01:25 Question of the Week   Now it's time for Question of the Week, which is intended to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's question, do you read comics books or graphic novels, Marvel, DC, indie manga, whatever? No wrong answers, obviously, including “I don't read comics.”   Ryan says: I don't read comic books, they just don't appeal to me. I prefer world building through writing as opposed to images, and I think you don't get the same feel for characters in a comic as you do in a novel.   Justin says: Once upon a time, I did read comics. It's been a long time since I knew of the mainstream comics interested me, sadly. I have read some manga in the last year, but any associated light novel wins handily. There are a few web comics to keep up with. I have bought books and merch from the Foglios for Girl Genius and Tayler for Schlock Mercenary, but even then, it's been years since my last purchase.   Juana says: I love Batman. End of story.   John says: I enjoy graphic novels, mainly for the art. Most recent read was The Wizard of Earthsea graphic novel, which is a true work of art published just this month.   Randy says: Marvel/DC stuff, not much anymore. I can sit down and read Peanuts, Pearls Before Swine, etc. collections anytime, probably not the “comics” you meant.   Jenny says: Rat Queens! So good!   Gary says: I don't read comics.   Bob says: Nope. Used to devour DC and Marvel as a kid. Wish I still had some of them. Probably worth big bucks now.   Tom says: I used to be a Marvel Zombie. Seriously, I have 20-30 long boxes filled with comics. I had to kick the habit though. Nowadays it's mostly just a few TV show based series. Would love to read some Frostborn graphic novels though!   And finally, Tracy says: I don't read comics.   For myself, I agree with many of the commenters where my answer is I don't read comics. It's not out of snobbery or disdain for the art form. It just doesn't speak to me or hold my interest. Of course not all art speaks to all people at all times. I was curious about this topic because I see people discussing comic books online all the time, but apparently the industry is in bad shape financially with multiple bankruptcies and closures and so forth. So I was wondering if comics were kind of more of a vintage art form that is less popular with younger generations as the older generations start to die off. But you never know. Things always are on a wheel and come around again.   00:03:36 Main Topic of the Week: Writing Adjacent Activities: Research   So now back to our main topic or to start with our main topic, research challenges for writers. As I mentioned two episodes ago, I'm working on a new podcast series about what I call writing adjacent activities. What do I mean by this? I'm talking about tasks that seem like they're part of the writing process but really belong in a different category. These tasks are important, but they can also be a pitfall if you spend too much time on them or don't use that time correctly.   In this series, we will focus on a few of these tasks and how they can benefit or hinder your writing process, even though they seem like good uses of time and may be beneficial. In this episode, we'll talk about research for fiction writing. How much research is necessary and how does research help? When does it get to the point where it becomes a pitfall instead of an asset? What are some things that work well for me when researching matters for my books?   First of all, why should writers even have to research in order to write a work of fiction? Why can't we just make up details since the characters and the plot are also made up? Why research?   Research can help provide crucial information for the plot. For example, of a spy novel set in World War II focuses on the Canadians battling the British is inaccurate to the point of farce. Knowing which countries were Axis and which were Allies is an important piece of research that should have been done for that story in advance of writing it. There's a British TV series called The Goes Wrong Show about a group of inept actors putting on bad plays that's quite funny, and one of the episodes has them putting on a play that is widely criticized for its lazy historical research, which includes such things as Winston Churchill being a prime minister during the Vietnam War. In the show, of course, this is played for comedy as part of how bad the actors are, but you don't want to do this in real life.   Research prevents factual errors that can distract readers. Some of the biggest examples of this are military terminology, the British peerage system, and information about weapons like guns. All of these things have very distinct details that avid readers in a certain genre will notice and be upset about if they're incorrect. You'll notice that successful thriller writers tend to put a lot of time into researching and lovingly describing various pieces of military hardware in their books.   For a genre like historical romance, the distinction seems unimportant to a modern American, but to a debutante in Regency England, the difference between marrying a baron and a duke is immense and the titles can't be used interchangeably in a work of historical fiction. For example, the duke and baron would be addressed differently and enter a room in a different order, but more importantly, in a status conscious marriage market like the debutante season, a duke would be a highly sought after potential husband while a baron might be less of a catch, especially if the family is not so wealthy. This detail changes the characters and plots completely. To return to the firearm examples, for one of the famous errors that sometimes new writers do is a character puts a silencer on a revolver, which doesn't work because you can't silence a revolver. Much of the noise comes from the rear of the weapon when it's fired in addition to the muzzle flash and muzzle noise, so there are little details like that (both for weapons and the British peerage system) that you do need to watch out for.   Research can give you ideas or add depth through details. For example, someone writing a romance novel about two rival managers in a theme park could discover that this particular theme park has an intricate underground system of tunnels that includes storage areas and staff break rooms. The writer realizes this would give good opportunities for the characters to have a conversation or confrontation in a more private place than outside of a busy ride. What are some good sources for research? Not all research is going to the library and looking at books that haven't been checked out in 10 years or so. Sometimes research for writing fiction is about checking or learning basic facts like street names, what the word is for cat in Spanish, or what a certain chain store was named in 2008. Making these details up only makes sense if the places and languages are completely fictional. Where more academic and in depth research comes in is when a high level of informational accuracy is required by genre convention, like in thrillers, historical fiction, a legal drama, or a medical thriller.   One of the criticisms of the relatively recent Disney Plus show She Hulk was that although She Hulk's profession is a lawyer and she spends all of her time doing lawyer things, none of the writers had a background in law and it seemed like their legal advisor was quite hands off in their approach. They tried to write around it instead, and the results were disappointing to both fans of the source material and new viewers because as I've often said before, you don't need to be totally accurate, but it needs to feel accurate. Anyone watching the show would know that the American legal system works nothing like the way it's portrayed, not even in the abstract.   One of the additional complaints about the show is that they missed the chance to showcase the character by barely showing them doing any actual work or to only show it as a farce, making She Hulk seem more frivolous and unlikable without her defining trait of being a really good lawyer. Trying to write around factual information is usually not the best solution, and it could hurt the reader's feeling of immersion or cause them just to feel annoyed.   For genres that require a high level of information accuracy, try starting with the general overview books and then looking at more specific information as needed. You don't need to become an expert in every piece of medieval weaponry to write a historical or a fantasy book, but you do need to know the basics in order to have the characters use them in a convincing way.   As I've said before, I often talk about how verisimilitude is the goal in writing. You need to know and share just enough to make the reader feel convinced and have the characters be able to act in a believable way in the world there inhabiting.   Often writers are advised to use YouTube for research because it's free and usually easy to understand. However, YouTubers usually don't cite their sources and incorrect information often gets reshared this way. That said, it can still be useful. For example, if we go back to our example of the theme park romance novel, the writer could find YouTube footage of what the line looks like for a certain ride without having to go see it in person and determine from the footage if a child could really climb over a railing to escape their parents, for example, if that was one of the plot contrivances the writer wanted to put in the book.   I would strongly recommend you don't use a LLM program like ChatGPT for research, and if you do, you should cross-reference and double check its answers for accuracy because ChatGPT essentially makes stuff up. Unlike a search engine ChatGPT essentially guesses at its answers instead of retrieving them. For example, if you ask ChatGPT who the spouse of one reality star is, it confidently lists her brother as her husband because the names are very frequently paired and they had the same last name, ChatGPT made a guess and that guess was quite wrong. It's also important to note that it's not trained on recent information. It won't, for example, be able to tell you on what date a movie is going to come out in two weeks because it may not have access to that information yet, and it might instead give you the premiere date for previous films or guess at a date.   How much research is necessary and when is it a pitfall instead of an asset? Too much research can keep you from starting to actually write. It's a real temptation if you enjoy research to spend months bogged down in every possible source of information. It's also good to take a step back, look at your book's outline, and determine what's truly needed. When you're writing, you can add a note, “research this” and note about what fact you need to look up and then keep going. It isn't a great idea to stop writing every time you need to look up a specific fact. Doing that can often lead to research spirals that take too much time and then you lose your writing momentum.   Having researched too much can also drag down the plot with a lot of info dumps. We've all encountered books where the writer very clearly put in a lot of research into a very specific topic, so they were going to put all that research into the book, even if it was to the book's detriment. It's natural to want to use as much of your research as possible, but in reality, the only research that is good for the reader is what benefits the plot or adds to the feeling of verisimilitude without stopping the plot in its tracks.   What are some things that have worked for me when researching subjects for my books? Because I write fantasy and science fiction, I tend not to do that much research. Usually it's if I need to look up a specific fact to increase the verisimilitude. I had to do that quite a bit with Silent Order because that's science fiction and therefore a bit more fact-based. So I wanted to make sure I had things like the speed of light in kilometers or the amount of kilometers in a light year, for example, make sure that I had those numbers accurate. However, when I'm writing and there's something I want to look up later, I tend to literally just type “look this up later” and then keep going in the book.   This actually happens quite a bit in the Cloak Games and Cloak Mage series because while that's set in a fantasy setting, that fantasy setting is a version of our own world. I do need to look things up reasonably frequently, like where this town is located or how long you would take to fly from Chicago to Boston, for example. So very often I will just type “look this up later”, and then in the editing process, I will actually look that up and make sure that I have a good information source, not ChatGPT, and then add that fact into the book as necessary.   One thing I would recommend watching out for is that if the entire plot of the book hinges on a certain fact, like for example, say that you have in your book, the entire plot revolves around the fact that on average it takes about seven to eight hours to drive from Milwaukee to Detroit, it's a good idea to look it up and make sure that is actually true. If for example, you, let's talk hypothetically, if you weren't familiar with the geography of the United States and you had the plot being that it takes only three hours to drive from Milwaukee to Detroit, your book will not work because anyone remotely familiar with the American Midwest knows that if you are driving from Milwaukee to Detroit around the southern side of Lake Michigan, it takes at least seven hours and depending on traffic conditions, it can easily go much higher very quickly. So if you do have a fact around which the entire plot of your book hinges, it's a good idea to research that fact first and make sure that's accurate, so you can avoid the scenario where you write the book and then people are laughing at you because you wrote it only takes three hours to drive from Milwaukee to Detroit.   So to sum up, research in fiction is very different from in the academic world, but that doesn't mean that's not important. Like so many things in life, it's all about balance. You don't want to go too far down the research rabbit hole to the detriment of finishing your book, but you do need enough information to maintain verisimilitude, but not an excess of detail that will derail the plot or keep you from finishing the book you want, just enough that it makes sense.   An example for that for me would be one of the plot lines in Cloak of Spears which revolves around nuclear fusion. The book sold pretty well and people liked it, but I did get a email from an expert in nuclear fusion saying that the way I had described things is not actually how nuclear fusion works, and the fact of the matter was that thankfully for that book, it didn't matter because the actual intricacies of how nuclear fusion works is beyond my grasp and frankly beyond the grasp of most people. So I'd included enough verisimilitude to that the book worked for most people, but it was not enough to fool an actual expert in nuclear physics. So that brings me to a Abraham Lincoln quote I remember where he says, “you can fool some of the people some of the time and the rest of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.” And that is true with research and fiction. You'll want to do just enough to get verisimilitude so that you can fool most of the people, but you can't always expect to fool everybody. If you are writing about something which has subject matter experts, you may find that you'll have the subject matter experts writing to you and pointing things out. But what's important is that you do it well enough to fool most of the general audience, if not the subject matter experts.   So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

Planet Mercenary RPG is a space opera adventure game based on the popular web comic Schlock Mercenary. It contains everything you need to create characters, equip them, and load them onto warships for adventures across the galaxy. Build your own mercenary company and accept all the best contracts. Rescue ecotourists from Eina Afa's Stormring Sea. Leap between the Pereri Ring's tethered asteroids in pursuit of pirates. Brave the dark heart of Ellwor's mechorganic jungle in search of the Greater Meatsnatch. Engineered for speed and simplicity, the Planet Mercenary RPG lets you play out these adventures quickly with three six-sided dice and the 108-card Mayhem deck—a set of story-building, plot-twisting, occasionally explosive elements that can transform even a mundane encounter into a turning point for the entire mission. You and your group will weave magnificent, raucous, and probably hilarious adventure stories, and everyone will enjoy themselves …even when things go terribly wrong. Discuss this episode on the Ludonarrative Dissidents Community Discord!

Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode we interview Howard Tayler, one of the founding members of the podcast, and the creator of Schlock Mercenary. The first question: how did this twenty-year ride change you? And a later question: what comes next? Liner Notes: We'll eventually do a deep dive on the final three books of the Schlock Mercenary saga. You can read for free starting here. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson

My guests this week are Howard and Sandra Tayler! Howard is best known as the writer and artist of the massively popular Schlock Mercenary webcomic, as well as one of the founding hosts of the Writing Excuses podcast. His wife Sandra has been his long-running partner, acting as editor, business manager, and jack-of-all-trades for Schlock Mercenary and other projects, as well as her own writing and presenting.The three of us chat about the genesis and development of their business and creative partnership and how that has gelled over the years with their marriage. We also talk mutual problem solving, learning self-care and structure, as well as the future of Schlock Mercenary and the Tayler's other creative endeavors. Enjoy my conversation with Howard and Sandra Tayler!Find Howard on Twitter and at Schlock Mercenary.Find Sandra on Twitter and her website.Find Brian McClellan at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Howard Tayler is creating great stories and great art. And he is publishing not one, but two new books in the Schlock Mercenary Universe. In this episode we discuss the churn, and how Crowdfunding has been changing, continues to change, and what we see coming.We discuss how Howard makes a living as a professional as a Web Cartoonist and how you give something away for free to make a living. He shares the process of creating books and building a story over many years. You can find his Kickstarter campaign here

The players finally sit down to play Munchkin Starfinder from Paizo and Steve Jackson Games that was funded via Kickstarter in October 2017. Plus... a new player enters the arena. Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure Munchkin Land continues far into the future! Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com MUNCHKIN STARFINDER Play a laser-toting explorer in Munchkin Starfinder, where we combine the backstabbing, monster-killing, "roleplaying" action of classic Munchkin with the hostile planets, sleek starships, and alien creatures found in Paizo Inc.'s new Starfinder Roleplaying Game! Choose from more than a dozen new races and classes to beat up space monsters, loot exotic planets, and race to Level 10. Munchkin Starfinder was developed by Munchkin Line Editor Andrew Hackard and illustrated by Howard Tayler, known for his webcomic Schlock Mercenary as well as his work in the Writing Excuses podcast alongside Brandon Sanderson and other great authors. This 168-card stand-alone game comes with new races, new classes, and Star Munchkin card backs. Like most Munchkin games, this is for 3 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, and takes 1 to 2 hours to play.

The players finally sit down to play Munchkin Starfinder from Paizo and Steve Jackson Games that was funded via Kickstarter in October 2017. Plus... a new player enters the arena. Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure Munchkin Land continues far into the future! Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com MUNCHKIN STARFINDER Play a laser-toting explorer in Munchkin Starfinder, where we combine the backstabbing, monster-killing, "roleplaying" action of classic Munchkin with the hostile planets, sleek starships, and alien creatures found in Paizo Inc.'s new Starfinder Roleplaying Game! Choose from more than a dozen new races and classes to beat up space monsters, loot exotic planets, and race to Level 10. Munchkin Starfinder was developed by Munchkin Line Editor Andrew Hackard and illustrated by Howard Tayler, known for his webcomic Schlock Mercenary as well as his work in the Writing Excuses podcast alongside Brandon Sanderson and other great authors. This 168-card stand-alone game comes with new races, new classes, and Star Munchkin card backs. Like most Munchkin games, this is for 3 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, and takes 1 to 2 hours to play.

The Munchkin Minute returns this week, just in time for Steve Jackson Games to launch the Munchkin Starfinder Kickstarter campaign. Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://Patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure Munchkin Land continues far into the future! Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com Munchkin Starfinder (Kickstarter link) Munchkin Starfinder was developed by Munchkin Line Editor Andrew Hackard and illustrated by Howard Tayler, known for his webcomic Schlock Mercenary as well as his work in the Writing Excuses podcast alongside Brandon Sanderson and other great authors. This 168-card stand-alone game comes with new races, new classes, and Starfinder-specific card backs. Like most Munchkin games, this is for 3 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, and takes 1 to 2 hours to play.

The Munchkin Minute returns this week, just in time for Steve Jackson Games to launch the Munchkin Starfinder Kickstarter campaign. Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://Patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure Munchkin Land continues far into the future! Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com Munchkin Starfinder (Kickstarter link) Munchkin Starfinder was developed by Munchkin Line Editor Andrew Hackard and illustrated by Howard Tayler, known for his webcomic Schlock Mercenary as well as his work in the Writing Excuses podcast alongside Brandon Sanderson and other great authors. This 168-card stand-alone game comes with new races, new classes, and Starfinder-specific card backs. Like most Munchkin games, this is for 3 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, and takes 1 to 2 hours to play.

Your Hosts: Brandon, Piper, Dan, and Howard We're talking about the extreme long-form serial story here, and how to keep things interesting without forcing the main characters into an absurdly high number of character-developing moments. Brandon leads by aiming the question at Howard, since Schlock Mercenary has been running now for seventeen years (it was only 16 at the time we recorded.) We also talk about how long romance serials avoid "sequelitis" by swapping out the love interests, and how the tools used here apply across multiple styles and genres. Credits: this episode was recorded in Cosmere House Studios by Dan Dan the Audioman Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard Let's talk about the structural tools we use to control pacing. These include sentence length and punctuation.   Also, white-space.   Liner note: Here is the Feb 12, 2017 Schlock Mercenary strip mentioned around the 18-minute mark. Credits: this episode was recorded in Cosmere House Studios by Dan Dan the Audioman Thompson, and mastered aboard a fleeing generation-ship by Alex Jackson  

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard, with Sandra Tayler This Project in Depth episode contains spoilers for "Risk Assessment," which is included in Force Multiplication: Schlock Mercenary Book 12. The story was written by Sandra Tayler, and illustrated by Natalie Barahona. Howard handled the writing and illustrating for the framing story, but this episode isn't about that part. Risk Assessment is a romance wrapped up in an adventure, and is very different from most of the rest of Schlock Mercenary. Have a listen, and Sandra will tell you about it. Credits: This episode was recorded aboard Oasis of the Seas by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex Jackson.

How do you make a living giving away free content. Howard Tayler teaches us how he does it and secrets to being successful. Why do people give you money? This question is the foundation for the Kickstarter economy and the new methods of tapping into a benevolent attitude among a segment of the population. Howard takes the time to share how he has created different revenue streams allowing him to make a full-time living as a creative artist.

Howard Tayler makes a living being funny...every single day. His Schlock Mercenary web comic has been running 7 days a week since 2000 without missing a day. He joins me on Funding the Dream to discuss the art of being funny without offending.

Howard brainstorms with Brandon, Mary, and Dan on a Schlock Mercenary bonus story.

Howard brainstorms with Brandon, Mary, and Dan on a Schlock Mercenary bonus story.

My most frequent and popular guest, Howard Tayler, discusses his own Kickstarter project for Schlock Mercenary Challenge Coins. Great advice for setting the value of your project. Listen and be inspired.

Howard answers questions about "Force Multiplication," (the 12th Schlock Mercenary book) as posed by Brandon, Dan, and Mary.

Howard answers questions about "Force Multiplication," (the 12th Schlock Mercenary book) as posed by Brandon, Dan, and Mary.

Steve L. treks to the Dragons Keep comic book shop in Provo, Utah to interview Howard Tayler, the creator of the award-winning web comic Schlock Mercenary. (Also, incidentally, the creator of our podcast logo!)  He has been nominated for his fourth consecutive Hugo award. He has also been nominated, in the “Best Related” category, for […]

Howard Tayler from Schlock Mercenary spends 20 minutes with us talking about the changes in attitude and expectations concerning Kickstarter now that his project has set a record as the #2 All-time highest funded board game project on Kickstarter

Funding the Dream - A Game Whisperer Podcast for Kickstarters talks about how to launch a successful campaign. This episode is with Howard Tayler, creator of Schlock Mercenary, a web comic strip that has run daily for 11 years. Howard's game, Schlock Mercenary, went live this week.

Dickie Shannon interviews Howard Tayler, author, creator, and "artist" of Schlock Mercenary!

Dickie Shannon intervies Howard Tayler, author, creator, and "artist" of Schlock Mercenary,

Howard Tayler (bio) is the creative genius behind the decade long web comic Schlock Mercenary. We talk about Baltimore, writing and doing comics full time, and much much more. Howard has some amazingly good advice for people looking to make … Continued

As a writer it's sometimes difficult to decide between doing things the readers want, and things that are right for the story. But as Dan says, writers can get away with doing things to readers that readers would never do to themselves. Beware! This podcast contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings, Return of the Jedi, and Serenity (the statute of limitations should have passed on all of these) as well as for the current week of Schlock Mercenary. This Week's Episode is brought to you by one of our favorite causes, "Buy Dan Bacon." Mmmm, bacon.

Oh glee and rapture, we begin our interviews from Anime Banzai in this Episode. (Sarcasm does not even apply.) What a good way to begin things with our excellent interview featuring the creator and producer of Schlock Mercenary, Howard Tayler. Anime Review: "Last Exile" HotSpot: "Howard Tayler Interview from Anime Banzai 2006"

What are the best practices for collaboration? How do you write in an established intellectual property (IP)? How do you write a new story in an established world? We dive into working with an individual or a group. We hear stories from our hosts about how they have navigated creative endeavors with different types of collaboration.Homework:Grab something on your TBR (to be read) pile and pick a random paragraph from it. Use that as the opening for a short story.Also prepare for our upcoming Deep Dive (starting in two episodes), by reading through Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary.Thing of the Week:The Original by Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette KowalMentioned Links:Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

How do you slowly reveal the supernatural in an obviously supernatural story? How can you prepare your audience for a reveal without disclosing it too quickly? If someone is familiar with your writing, they know the genre and what to expect from it. We talk about how we work within these confines while also making space for surprises, magic, and the supernatural. Homework:Do a reread or rewatch of something with a big reveal (like the reveal in "Dark One: Forgotten.") Think about how your understanding of the story has changed since you have that information earlier.Also prepare for our upcoming Deep Dive, by reading through Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary. And feel free to re-listen to our interview with Howard earlier this year, here.Thing of the Week:Nope, directed by Jordan PeeleCredits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In our final episode diving into how and why Dan wrote “Dark One: Forgotten,” talk about how you can take something personal and mine it for fiction. We also tackle the complicated question—Why should you be the one to tell your story?  We think about the personal touches that you can add to your writing, and how people can hear when your story is personal. Homework:2 things! 1. Have you watched Criminal Minds? If you haven't, you should! Next week, we have a special guest—Kirsten Vangsness who plays Penelope Garcia! Explore her other stuff (like her web series and podcast), and get ready for an INCREDIBLE conversation with her. 2. What's the thing in your real life that you keep thinking about when you aren't writing? Can you give that feeling or theme to a character? ALSO, prepare for our next Deep Dive, by reading through Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary. And feel free to re-listen to our interview with Howard earlier this year, Thing of the Week:Everything Everywhere all at Once Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

We have a special guest episode! Kirsten Vangsness, Criminal Minds star, joins us to talk about her experience as a writer, actor, and playwright. She taught us how she deals with imposter syndrome, and how she uses performance as a writing tool. We also talk about self-actualization, cats, and filling your metaphorical art well. Homework:From Kirsten: Record yourself, stream of consciousness, talking about one of the big questions that crops up in your work. Then write a scene that asks this question. From us: Prepare for our next Deep Dive, by reading through Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary.Thing of the Week:Kirsten's Agenda Season 2 Blue by June Carryl Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

The first episode in our eight-episode Deep Dive into Howard's weekly webcomic strip, Schlock Mercenary. We grill Howard on how he taught himself to draw, why he decided to self-publish (hint: his wife, Sandra Tayler, helped him), and how he managed to write an ending. Homework: The "How it should have ended" game: write your own ending(s) to one or more of your favorite things. (For reference, watch some of How It Should Have Ended.) Thing of the Week: The Expanse (DongWon) Mentioned Links: Schlock MercenaryHow It Should Have EndedCredits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

18.34: 17 Years of ForeshadowingWhat can Normal Gossip teach us about foreshadowing and artful storytelling? Thinking about the 20 books that make up Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary, our hosts discuss foreshadowing—our favorite examples, and our go-to tricks for structuring our own work. What does foreshadowing actually do for our work? Do we even need it? Well, yeah… it's like invisible narrative scaffolding. But it's also like a red herring. It's so many things! Listen to us discuss the best ways to use it in your own work, in a way that sounds true to your own writerly voice and vision. Homework: Take a throwaway gag from one of your favorite things and outline a story or scene in which the throwaway turns out to have been foreshadowing. Thing of the Week: Babel by R. F. Kuang Liner Notes: Game of Thrones, Fonda Lee, Fermi paradox, Normal Gossip Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comOur Sponsors:* Check out HelloFresh: http://hellofresh.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

How do you write the middle of a book? How do you end your book? How do you know what to write next? This week, our hosts —who all work as a writers and publishers (and are sometimes teachers and puppeteers and many other things)— talk through how they have written the middle of their books. The middle is where most of the story takes place. How do you keep track of your characters and plot? How do you bring it toward an end, and stick the landing? Well, we've got some ideas. And some advice to help you write the middle of your novel. Or short story. Or play. Or really… anything. Homework: Identify the point of the middle where you are delaying because you feel like your character needs to "earn" the cool thing. Where can you cut and where can you turn it into an escalation?Also! Make sure to catch up on Schlock Mercenary if you haven't already. Our next 3 episodes will dive into the details, and include some spoilers. Thing of the Week: The October Daye Series by Seanan McGuireLiner Notes: Mass Effect 2Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comOur Sponsors:* Check out HelloFresh: http://hellofresh.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Deep Dive: A Function of FirepowerHow do you write the middle of a book? How do you write an ending to a story? For this week's episode about writing, we focus on Book 19 of Schlock Mercenary, the penultimate book in Howard Tayler's series. We discuss ways to make a book feel self-contained, rather than just something to keep the beginning and the ending further apart. For reference, A Function of Firepower is the 19th Schlock Mercenary Book. We highly recommend you read this first, because this episode contains spoilers and in-depth conversations about the book. Homework: Writing prompt: try to work these three words into your WIP (work in progress): expeditious, sock, and dragonfly. Thing of the Week: Kickstarter for Schlock Mercenary Book 18: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/howardtayler(It's what Howard said, but "profile" is singular, not plural!) Liner Notes: Fermi paradoxCredits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Deep Dive: Sergeant In MotionHow do you write an ending to a book? How do you finish something you've been writing for over 20 years? Howard Tayler talks to us about writing the ending to his serialized webcomic and space opera, Schlock Mercenary. We dive into how to write a resolution, how to finish a book, and how to finish a series. And we dive into the art of leaning into the tropes without leaning ON them.Homework: Write a one page outline for the ending of your current work in progress. Prepare for our next Deep Dive with Host Erin Roberts (starting in two weeks)! Read Erin's short stories: Wolfy Things, Sour Milk Girls, Snake Season. Note: these books involve some darker themes. All of these short stories are available for free online and also have audio versions available. Thing of the Week: The Sexy Brutale (an adventure puzzle video game)Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comOur Sponsors:* Use code "50WX" at http://hellofresh.com/50WX and get 50% HelloFresh!! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

 Or, The Business of the End of Schlock MercenaryHow did Howard start making money from his hobby of drawing and writing comics? How did he self-publish? We have a special guest on this episode! Sandra Tayler—Howard's wife, the editor and publisher for Schlock Mercenary, and a published author—talks about starting their business. We dive into uncertainty, quality of life, and “manic optimism.” We learn about how to use pre-ordering, PayPal, and Kickstarter. Howard also shares about his experience with long covid, how to generate multiple income streams, and what comes next. Homework: Make a plan for how to monetize one aspect of your work. Start thinking like Sandra! This could be submitting a short story for publication or making a plan to submit your novel or making a plan for a paid newsletter. It doesn't have to be something you do today or tomorrow, but start thinking about what you can be doing to make this creative work part of your future income. Prepare for our next Deep Dive with Host Erin Roberts (starting next week)! Read Erin's short stories: Wolfy Things, Sour Milk Girls, Snake Season. Note: these stories involve some darker themes. All of these short stories are available for free online and also have audio versions available. Thing of the Week: Fluent Pet buttons - go to fluent.pet and use code "elsiewant" for a discount!Liner Notes: Sandra Tayler, who also offers one-on-one creative business consultingCreative Community Classes"Risk Assessment"—tthe Schlock Mercenary bonus story that Sandra wroteThe Alchemy of Creativity, Writing Excuses episode with Sandra Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.Join Our Writing Community! PatreonInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitterSign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comOur Sponsors:* Use code "50WX" at http://hellofresh.com/50WX and get 50% HelloFresh!! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands